yeah, you can imagine my suprise driving through fortworth during rush hour and my ignition system craps out. i was in the center lane doing 75!

 

Let's see if this works:



<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=590 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=468><!-- ADVERTISEMENT CODING --><!--OAS SETUP="www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/ap/financial@TopLeft,Middle,Right1,Right2,Right3,Left ,BottomRight"--><!--OAS AD="TopLeft"--></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width=590 colSpan=3>
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=590 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width=124><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=124 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center width=120 bgColor=#666699></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center width=120 bgColor=#666699><!--OAS AD="Middle"--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=124 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center width=120 bgColor=#666699></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center width=120 bgColor=#666699><!--OAS AD="Right1"--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=124 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center width=120 bgColor=#666699></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center width=120 bgColor=#666699><!--OAS AD="Right2"--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=124 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center width=120 bgColor=#666699></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center width=120 bgColor=#666699><!--OAS AD="Right3"--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><!-- This cell creates the gutter. DO noT REMOVE. --><TD width=20> </TD><TD width=446><!--plsfield:headline-->Ford Settles Ignition Lawsuit

<!--plsfield:byline-->By David Kravets
<!--plsfield:credit-->Associated Press Writer
<!--plsfield:disp_date-->Monday, Aug. 13, 2001; 10:36 a.m. EDT

<!--plsfield:description-->SAN FRANCISCO –– In a deal that could cost Ford Motor Co. as much as $1 billion and affect millions of vehicles, the automaker has agreed to settle a lawsuit that alleges its cars and trucks stall.

The agreement ends years of litigation in which a California judge said the Detroit automaker was living in an "Alice in Wonderland" dreamland for denying ignition switches were defective.

The proposed settlement, announced late Sunday, comes four months after Alameda County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Ballachey ordered as many as 2 million vehicles in California recalled as part of a statewide class-action suit in which the judge found that Ford concealed the shabby parts from government inspectors.

Although the case was in California, attorneys said the settlement, if approved by Ballachey, would cover 5 million vehicles nationwide. The settlement was reported in Monday's editions of The New York Times and other papers.

"I think this is basically a win for consumers," said Jeff Fazio, a lead attorney in the case against Ford. "It could have been years before the cars were fixed, but with this it could come soon."

Under the announced agreement, Ford said it would replace the ignition devices to all Ford vehicles nationwide that have stalled and have no more than 100,000 miles, which is an estimated 500,000 to 650,000 vehicles in California and an estimated 5 million nationwide.

The Detroit automaker denies the ignition devices are defective and stall, but already has settled hundreds of wrongful death, injury and other suits in connection to allegations of Ford vehicles stalling.

The suit challenged Ford's placement of the thick film ignition module, which regulates electric current to the spark plugs. In 300 models sold between 1983 and 1995, the module was mounted on the distributor near the engine block, where it was exposed to high temperatures.

Ballachey, the nation's only judge to order a vehicle recall, found last year that Ford was warned by an engineer that high temperatures would cause the device to fail and stall the engine. Ford's own documents show that the company confirmed the problem in internal studies, and could have moved the module to a cooler spot for an extra $4 per vehicle.

The agreement also says Ford will extend all warranties to 100,000 miles for affected vehicles and pay to replace the ignition if it stalls and needs replacing before the new 100,000 mile warranty is up.

The agreement, if approved by the judge, wipes out the judge's recall order of some 2 million vehicles on California's roads that have the ignition device in them.

Ballachey's recall ruling was in the preliminary stages of the case, which was expected to go to trial later this month.

Ballachey said Ford concealed the stalling information from federal safety regulators, who were studying hundreds of complaints about Ford vehicles stalling.

The government found no safety problems with the modules, but a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official said the government would not have closed the case if Ford had given the agency key documents unveiled in the class-action case.

Fazio said he settled because, under the recall order, it could have taken years, if ever, before the vehicles would have been fixed. That is because Ford had said it would appeal the recall order, which affects all 1983-1995 Ford models in California.

The automaker said judges do not have the same power as does the NHTSA to order a vehicle recall. Under the deal, the vehicles could be fixed or the cost of previous replacements could come as early as next year, Fazio said.

The automaker already is involved in recalling 6.5 million Bridgestone/Firestone tires – standard equipment on Ford Explorers – that are being investigated in connection with more than 100 highway deaths.

–––

On the Net:

Ford: http://www.ford.com

NHTSA: http://www.nhtsa.gov <CENTER>© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press Back to the top </CENTER>

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as you can see, this goes back to 2001. I just did a copy and paste, hope that's ok (copyright???) Anyway, to find this, I just did an internet search under "ford ignition". Some private sites about their troubles, some about the switches, and this. I'm going to buy a spare and keep it in the truck with the wrench.

 

How can I tell if my 86 f-250 with the 351w HO might have this part?

Thanks!

 

hey fornarog, its real easy to tell if you have it or not. either check a manual to see for yourself, or just look and see if there is an ignition module on your distributor if so then you have it.

 

ok guys here is the kicker, i know i have tfi, i went to the ford site and put in my vin and they say i dont have a recalled part?

 

ok, now i got a timing light and went to set the timing since i fixed the prob, replaced everything. there are no markings to show timing on the engine. what the heck do i do now?